Vengeance Will Be Mine
by Genevieve Kelly
Summary: Pete and Myka are sent to Michigan in search of an artifact and the two agents soon discover that there is more to what the grave robbers in possession of it were doing there. Eventually, a larger mystery unfolds as chaos begins to spread, a mystery that they must solve before the life of one of their own is lost forever. This story takes place toward the end of season three.
1. Chapter 1

Vengeance Will Be Mine

Chapter One

They ran through the dark, wide open grounds toward the woods that led out of the cemetery, chasing after a couple of grave robbers, who had just finished digging up an unmarked grave, then ran as soon as they had arrived, the reason for the invasion unknown to the warehouse agents that had been searching for an artifact for the last few days and had ended up here. However, as soon as Pete and Myka were about to catch up to the slower runner, the invaders split up and Pete took off after the faster one, leaving Myka to catch the other.

The female half of the duo finally tackled the thief to the ground and as she pulled off the dark hoodie to find out who she was chasing after, she found that it was a woman, years younger than she was, younger than Myka would have expected to see rob a grave unless she was a teenage hoodlum.

Myka sat on the girl's legs as spoke up first asking, "How old are you?"

The girl tried to swing her fist at Myka, who easily deflected the punch and held her arm against the ground, then finally answered, "I'm sixteen and old enough to be doing this."

"And what is it you're doing here tonight exactly?" Myka asked in confusion, wondering if the girl had any idea what she was really doing.

"What's it to you, lady?" the girl asked briskly. "Grave robbing might be illegal, but you're not my mother or my lawyer. I don't have to answer to you. Now, get off of me. I doubt I'd be able to get away from you again, so I won't try to run, I swear."

Myka released her and let her up, then scoffed as she replied, "Trust me, kid, I'm glad I'm not either your mom or your lawyer, but I really need to know what you're doing here tonight. We're looking for something that, I'm assuming is in your boss' hands, is pretty, valuable I guess you can say. It doesn't belong to him."

The girl responded, "I don't know what you're talking about and the person I'm working for isn't a man, but a woman. She's my friend. If you want any information about her, you won't get it from me."

"What is your name?" Myka asked.

"My name is Christine, Christine Bellows," the girl answered. "Who are you and why does someone, who claims to be a CIA agent, come all the way out here to arrest a couple of grave robbers? Isn't it a little beneath you?"

Myka shook her head in frustration and then replied, "There's more to this than you know. Now, I have to go after my partner, to see if he was able to catch your friend. He's good, but sometimes he needs a little bit of help. You'll wait here."

As the warehouse agent chained the girl's wrist up to a tree at the border of the woods, the girl tried to protest, but Myka only ignored her and then swiftly ran into the woods in order to track down Pete and the woman he had chased after, as a deep fear gnawed at her gut that something was wrong, since he should have been back by now.

By the time Myka finally found her partner within the trees, Pete was slowly walking toward her as he rubbed his hand over the back of his head and as she noticed, she suddenly ran toward him crying out, "Pete, are you all right? What happened?"

"It's wonderful to be alive," Pete responded as she finally caught up to him. "I'm sorry, what did you just ask me?"

"Are you all right?" she asked again as she gently placed her hands on the back of his head and began to look him over for any signs of bleeding.

When she did so, Pete pushed her away as he answered, "I'm fine, Ag… Myka. I think I underestimated, whoever that was, that's all. I think he hit me and knocked me down, then took off."

Myka replied, "She hit you, you mean."

"I beg your pardon?" he asked in confusion.

"Our grave robbers are women, one of whom is actually a sixteen year old girl," Myka responded. "You're lucky I was the one to take her down instead of you, or Claudia would never allow you to hear the end of it if she managed to outsmart you. As it is, you already have to admit to her and Artie that you allowed a woman to best you."

Pete smiled oddly as he answered, "I suppose that's no different than any other day now, is it? I would think there are plenty of circumstances that he… I give everyone to poke fun of. Am I right?"

Myka noticed the strange look on his face and the few small slip-ups made while he spoke, then replied, "I suppose. Are you sure you're all right? You're acting a little, strange. Even stranger than usual, I mean."

"I told you, I'm fine, Myka," Pete responded as he looked behind him as if he were looking for something. "It's just a headache coming on. It's nothing that a little sleep on the plane ride back home won't fix."

"I suppose, but we have to finish our case first, remember?" Myka said again, confusion still sounding in her voice. "I'll go call Artie and let him know we hit a snag."

Pete shook his head, then pulled something out from his coat pocket while holding onto it with a pair of their purple, rubber gloves so as not to become affected by its power, and answered, "No need, I managed to grab the artifact from our thief after she knocked me down; the egg of Columbus. Artie's been looking for this thing for awhile now. I wonder how this thing got into a petty thief's hands, or why she would even want it."

Myka thought for a second and then replied, "It fries anyone who touches it. It's a good way to kill your enemies."

"That's true," Pete responded. "Let's go home. I'm anxious to get back."

"Me too," Myka added. "I could use some sleep myself."

As they arrived back at the outskirts of the woods, where Myka had left the girl handcuffed to the tree, she found that the young thief was gone, her cuffs still attached to the tree and Myka cursed, then said, "It looks like I underestimated my opponent as well; slippery girl. While we're here, it'll probably be a good idea to check the grave they were digging in order to try to find out what they were after. If we don't, Artie will never let us hear the end of it and you know how he is."

Pete shook his head as he made a gesture to allow Myka to take the lead back toward the grave, then answered, "Believe me, I do."


	2. Chapter 2

Vengeance Will Be Mine

Chapter Two

Both Pete and Myka walked back to the grave site where the two thieves had dug up an aged, wooden box containing what appeared to be old bones of an unknown individual, as the grave of whoever it belonged to was unmarked, then Myka leaned down as she shown her flashlight down into the grave in order to get a closer look at the remains, and began to dig about the dirt. Pete stayed back and observed her in silence, allowing his partner to do her job.

After a few minutes, Pete finally broke the silence between them as he called out, "They're just a pile of bones, Myka. Does it really matter why those two thieves were here? We got what we came for."

Myka sat up and responded, "Just because we got the egg of death, as you so eloquently called it this morning, doesn't mean we should ignore why they used it to kill three people around the globe and find this place. Besides, it looks like they got what it was they were looking for after all; this man's skull."

"Why would they want a dirty, old skull from a man that lived, however long ago he lived?" Peter asked again. "Wait, you know these bones belonged to a man and not a woman?"

"Yes, another one of my many talents," Myka answered smugly. "I can tell because of the shape of a couple of the bones. Some male bones are larger than a female's. Why do you still seem surprised when I know something that you don't? I've always been smarter than you."

Pete replied, "I don't know. I guess I just can't help, but be impressed. What now?"

Myka pulled out their Farnsworth from her coat pocket as she responded, "We call Artie. Maybe he'll know who was buried here and why someone would want to steal his head."

"_I'm glad you two finally called,_" Artie spoke up through their communicator as he picked up after Myka pushed the button on her own. "_What's going on over there? Did you find the egg?_"

"Yeah, Artie, we got the egg back, but we lost our thieves," she answered. "There were two of them and they both took off after we caught them robbing an old, unmarked grave. While I dealt with one, Pete chased down the leader and managed to get the egg back, but they got away from us, along with the skull of whoever it is inside this grave. Do you have any idea who is buried here?"

Artie looked behind him, most likely at Claudia or Leena, then turned back to look at Myka and replied, "_I have no idea, or why someone would want a skull from some random, unmarked grave in Michigan. We'll have to do some research. Take pictures and come back here, but call the local authorities to take care of the rest of the bones, so that hopefully the thieves will resist coming back for the rest._"

Pete stepped up behind Myka and spoke up saying, "We'll see you soon, Artie."

After hanging up with Artie and finishing their task at the grave, the two warehouse agents left Michigan and headed back to Univille, knowing that their latest quest wasn't finished, but rather at a dead end. It was frustrating to them, leaving a job unfinished, but until they could figure out who their thieves were and what was so important about the missing skull, there was nothing more they could do and therefore, no point in staying in Michigan any longer.

When they finally arrived back home early the next morning, Pete and Myka headed straight to the warehouse in order to take care of the egg of Columbus right away. As they walked in, they found Artie, Steve, and Claudia, all sitting around the computer, looking at whatever it was they were researching, while arguing about something that sounded of no importance to them. Neither of them noticed that the two agents had even walked in until Myka loudly cleared her throat in order to get their attention.

"You two are back," Artie grumbled. "Thank God, these two are driving me crazy, as usual. Do you have the egg?"

"I'm going to go bring this the dark vault and catalogue it for you," Pete said curtly as he once again pulled it out carefully from his pocket using their gloves to protect himself from the artifact's effects, then started to walk toward warehouse's vast isles.

Artie picked up a tray from the table behind him and stood up as he responded, "Wait, don't you want a cookie? They're fresh. There's no need to rush off. Don't you want to find out what we've figured while you were on your way back here?"

Pete turned back and answered, "I'm not really in the mood for a cookie right now. I'm tired and just want to go get some sleep. Besides, there's nothing more we can do until we find the thieves anyway. Explain whatever it is you've found to Myka. She's the brains of our partnership after all. See you later."

"What's gotten into him?" Claudia asked in confusion after Pete left the room. "He doesn't ever act like that, even when he is tired."

"I don't know," Myka replied in confusion as well. "Pete's been off ever since he came back from chasing after one of the thieves. He said he got hit over the head, but…"

Steve interrupted, "Even a headache doesn't cause people to act like that, especially him. He usually just shoves the pain aside and cracks a joke about it."

Artie added, "And he never says no to one of my cookies."

"There's something strange… something's off with him," Leena spoke up as she walked further into the room, having entered through the doorway as Pete first spoke up and stopped, feeling the strangeness surrounding him as he did. "Steve, did you get the sense that he was lying about something?"

"No, not really," the newest agent responded. "I mean, he was tired, but I got the sense that he wasn't planning on going to get some sleep after he finishes up down in the warehouse. He wanted something else."

Artie turned to Myka and asked, "Myka, is it possible that our thieves had another artifact; something that could have affected him in some way? Did you see anything strange about them?"

Myka answered, "No, they didn't act strange at all, at least not the teenager I chased down and caught. She was just a young thief."

"Not to mention a young killer," Steve continued. "Don't forget, she and her friend killed three people in order to find and steal that skull, for whatever reason."

"The skull, that must be it, Artie, the skull," Myka cried out. "What if the reason they were after it was because they knew that it was an artifact?"

Artie looked at Myka in surprise as a thought came to him and quickly rushed over to the computer, but then stopped as he muttered to himself, "No, no, no, of course it wouldn't be in the databases. It would most likely be in one of, one of our books, but… but which one?"

Claudia waved her hand in front of Artie's face to get back his attention as she said, "Hello, earth to Artie? What are you talking about? Did you think of something?"

"Do you think the skull's an artifact after all?" Steve asked.

"I have no idea why it would be buried in an unmarked grave in Michigan, but if it is the skull I'm thinking it must be, but it can't be," Artie replied.

Myka scowled in frustration and called out, "Artie! Stop muttering and tell us what it is."

The older agent responded, "Myka, listen to me. I have to find out for sure if I'm right, but if I'm right… if I'm right, then it's possible that Pete's in real trouble. I'm not sure how much, but you three need to find him and stop him from doing anything, crazy."

"Pete," Myka spoke fearfully, more to herself than to anyone else.


	3. Chapter 3

Vengeance Will Be Mine

Chapter Three

Both Artie and Leena remained upstairs in the office to look up, whatever it was Artie was mumbling about before sending his team down to find their friend, while Myka, Steve, and Claudia made their way down into the warehouse and began searching for Pete through the aisles. After a few minutes they finally decided to split up in order to cover more ground, Myka going one way and Claudia and Jinx headed off together in the opposite direction. The warehouse was quiet as usual, but walking down there now, alone, made each of the teammates nervous, as they all knew it was possible that Pete could have set any number of artifacts off as a trap, in case he figured they knew something was going on with him.

Several aisles later, Myka finally caught sight of her partner as he was swiftly making his way toward the one of the warehouse's few exits, now carrying a satchel on his shoulder. She quickly called out to him and he stopped, but didn't turn around right away as Myka slowly walked toward him and gently placed a hand on his back.

Pete spoke up coldly as he said, "I knew that I wouldn't be able to fool you long, especially since you're used to a more, eccentric partner, which thankfully that quality is not in my nature."

Myka stepped back a few feet as she replied fearfully, "You're not my partner, or you've been affected by something; an artifact we didn't know the thieves had. Pete, whatever this is, whatever's going on with you, you can fight it. I know you can. Let's just go back upstairs and we can talk, all of us, together and we can figure out how to help you."

"I don't need any help, Myka," Pete responded. "At least, not from you. I've got what I came for. I'm afraid I can't stay and chat, you know, things to do and all, but I'm sure I'll be seeing you and the others again before too long."

"Pete, wait!" Myka called as he just turned and began to walk away from her again until he abruptly stopped and grabbed a hold of a shelf closest to him to keep himself from doubling over, as he gasped, as if he had suddenly been struck by an intense pain.

He weakly cried out, "Myka, you have to… it's… no… help me; please… aagh!"

Myka quickly reached out as she attempted to pull her partner closer to her in order to help him, when in a darker, stronger voice than with the weakness he showed moments ago, Pete spoke up again, quietly saying to himself, "Clever boy."

All of a sudden, he shoved his partner backward, causing her to fall hard to the floor, as he swiftly pulled the tesla gun out from behind her back, where he knew she kept it on herself tucked in her pants, and blasted her with it in order to knock her unconscious, then ran off as soon as both Claudia and Steve rounded the corner, after hearing the commotion between the older agents.

"I'll help Myka!" Claudia shouted quickly after she and Steve saw Pete run after attacking his partner, then bent down to make sure Myka was all right. "Go after Pete; hurry!"

"I'm going," Steve answered as he continued to take off after his friend.

Steve raced through the aisles and when he finally made his way out one of the lower warehouse exits, he saw Pete as he was about to get into his SUV and called out, "Pete! What are you doing?"

Pete quickly shot another blast from the tesla gun toward Steve, but the younger man was easily able to dodge out of the way and take cover, then Pete pulled out his hand gun and fired several shots toward him as he said, "I've been given a second chance, Agent Jinks, and you, nor anyone else will ever stop me again."

After being shot at, Steve quickly pulled out his own gun out of instinct, but after doing so, he looked down at it in his hands and quickly put the weapon away again, knowing that he couldn't shoot back, as this was Pete attacking them, or whatever it was possessing him, then after Pete taunted him, Steve replied, "I'm not sure what you're talking about, but please, let us help you."

"Unless you're comfortable enough in taking a chance at shooting at me to try to stop me, which I have a feeling you won't, that isn't going to happen," Pete responded coldly. "Tell the others goodbye for me."

With that said, Pete fired two more rounds at the gas tank in Artie's car, causing it to burst into flames and making a clear chance for escape as the explosion made Steve fall back against the ground. He looked up again just in time to see Pete speed away in the only vehicle the team had left. He cursed and then ran back inside the warehouse to inform the others that he failed to catch him.

"You didn't catch him?" Myka asked groggily as soon as Steve came running back into the office, where Claudia and Leena were helping her sit down in Artie's chair after Claudia had dragged her up to while she was half conscious after being shocked.

Jinks shook his head and answered, "I'm sorry. He didn't hesitate firing his gun at me and I… couldn't fire back."

Myka looked away disappointedly, then looked over at Artie, who was scanning through the cards in their filing cabinet that contained information about a large number of their artifacts, and pleaded, "Artie, I know that you're not sure about what's going on here, but please tell us something, anything."

"In 1914, Grigori Rasputin…" Artie began until he was quickly cut off by Claudia.

"Rasputin, as in Rasputin the psychotic monk, who sold his soul to the devil in order to kill off the entire Romanov line, but failed to kill Anastasia?" she asked.

Artie glared at her as he replied, "That is what the Disney movie would have you believe, but yes, the one and the same. Now, may I continue? In 1916, Rasputin was murdered and then later resurrected by the royals for some reason or another, then later was killed a number of more times, each time being resurrected, until finally the Romanov's were all killed. When Rasputin was killed for the last time, his body was buried in an unmarked grave that very few people knew about, and then was later was moved again and again for reasons unknown, or so the rumors said. I don't know much more, except that his prayer rope was most likely what allowed him to be brought back from the dead so many times. The last time his remains were moved, however, Rasputin disappeared for good and no one, as far as anyone knows, knows where."

Claudia responded, "So, you're thinking that whoever moved his bones last, moved him to an unmarked grave, in the middle of nowhere, in Michigan, all the way from Russia and that his skull is, his skull is what exactly; a possession artifact? Do you think that Pete's being possessed by Rasputin's ghost?"

"That's what I'm not so sure about, but… wait a minute," Artie started until another thought came to him and he quickly looked over at Myka in a panic. "Do you have any idea why Pete was down in the warehouse, as I'm assuming it wasn't to put away the egg? You did say that he was carrying a bag when you saw him, right?"

"Right, but I'm not sure… wait," Myka answered and then continued. "You're thinking that Pete stole Rasputin's prayer rope in order to try to resurrect Rasputin, aren't you?"

Artie replied, "Or somebody else. The prayer rope doesn't just work to resurrect Rasputin himself, but if done properly and only if done properly, which it is next to impossible to do, then it can be used to resurrect anyone from the dead."

Leena headed toward the door into the warehouse as she responded, "I'll go and check on the artifact."

"So, do you have information about this skull that could help us to find out what it's done to Pete?" Steve asked. "I'd say he was definitely possessed by someone, but it was strange. He knew me, but he didn't and he obviously knew all about the warehouse. Maybe the ghost was reading his thoughts, I don't know."

"Neither do I, which is why I have to find that book that might be able to help us, but in the meantime, I have to inform Mrs. Frederic, who will most likely inform Jane," Artie said sadly.

Steve noticed the grim faces of his friends as he looked around the room, then asked, "Who is Jane?"

Myka answered, "Jane Lattimer; she's a Regent, as well as Pete's mom."

"I see," Steve replied solemnly. "I'm sorry."

"I'm going to go do what I can to try to find Pete," Myka spoke up again. "Knowing him, he probably went dark again, as we know he knows how to do, but I can't just sit here and do nothing while we wait for, for anything."

Claudia responded, "Well, maybe if we can track down our thieves again, then we'll be able to find Pete that way. They are involved in this somehow."

It was then that Leena walked back into the room with a serious face and said, "You were right about Pete stealing Rasputin's prayer rope. It's gone."

"I'll get cracking on finding our killing grave robbers," Claudia replied.

"I'll help you out," Steve added, looking over at his partner.

Artie looked over at the mix of emotions on Myka's face, then asked, "Myka, are you all right?"

She looked back at Artie and sadly answered, "No, Artie, I'm not. I'm angry, I'm frustrated, but mostly, I'm scared; scared for Pete. What if we fail? What will happen to Pete if we can't save him from whatever's going on here?"

"We won't fail, Myka," Artie said firmly. "We won't fail."


	4. Chapter 4

Vengeance Will Be Mine

Chapter Four

In an old bunker in the middle of nowhere, the sixteen year old thief was sitting down in a hard chair cleaning a gun, beside a table covered with heavy surveillance equipment. From time to time, she kept glancing over at the computer screen in order to check out their hideout's surroundings. After being stuck inside the bunker for over an hour as she was beginning to feel stir-crazy, she finally saw a stranger walk up to the bunker's entrance, causing her to stand up, and put up her gun as she moved to the door.

However, the older thief suddenly walked past her as she spoke up saying, "Relax, Christine, you can lower your gun. You and I both know you wouldn't be able to shoot it anyway, at least not at an intruder. Besides, he's a friend."

Christine looked over at her and scoffed as she responded, "I can kill, if you would ever give me the chance to, Renee. This is the guy we've been waiting for; your friend? He's cute!"

"Not exactly, but you'll find out what I mean very soon," the woman answered as she worked to open the locks over the thick, metal door. "Your whole life's about to change and just maybe, you'll get your chance to kill after all."

"What do you mean?" the teenager asked in confusion.

The stranger walked into the room after Renee let him inside and then he replied, "She means that everything you thought you knew, which going by how old I'd say you look can't be much, will be nothing compared to what you'll learn very soon. Thank you, Renee, for all your efforts in getting me to this point."

Renee reached out and pulled him into a hug as she responded, "I owe you my life. The least I can do is help you to regain yours. How are you feeling?"

"Agent Lattimer is stronger than I gave him credit for, but then again, I should have known he would be," he answered as he pushed her away and then took a seat where Christine had been sitting before. "He's been trying to fight back. The longer I remain inside his body, the weaker he'll become, but his resistance is draining my strength as well. I prefer to have my own body back, then we can deal with what's left of him later."

"What are you guys talking about?" Christine asked again as she was growing more confused the more her friend and Pete continued to talk. "Your own body; are you crazy? Please, tell me what's going on?"

Pete and Renee ignored her as Renee continued, "Were you able to acquire the prayer rope?"

Pete smiled, then reached into the satchel over his shoulder, and pulled out the artifact he had stolen from the warehouse as he replied, "Of course. I was brilliant to put this contingency plan in place before…"

"Before what?" Christine asked when Pete cut himself off, but instead of answering her, he suddenly gasped and doubled over before he could reach out and catch himself on anything to keep himself upright. "What's wrong, Renee?"

"You won't… aagh… you won't get away… with this, you psy… psycho," Pete fought to talk.

Renee leaned down, then roughly grabbed a hold of Pete's chin in order to look him into the eyes as he struggled against the pain, and she snarled, "You don't have a choice here, Agent Lattimer. You can't stop him."

Pete suddenly stopped struggling as he moved to stand with help from Renee and then responded, "Don't worry, my dear. I am much stronger than he is. The spell I discovered long ago to revive a spirit with Rasputin's skull is a powerful one, giving the spirit the vigor over the one possessed. The Romanovs had no idea that by reviving their villain so many times would cause a part of him to become an artifact with the power to restore life to an even more powerful and smarter villain today."

"You both are into witchcraft, awesome!" Christine reacted with surprise, but excitement as well. "I want to help. I want to learn what you know."

"Then, stick around," Pete said, then turned to look over at Renee. "It's time to begin. I can't stand to be stuck in this, childish, worthless cretin any longer. Do you still have the spell I gave you to make me whole?"

As Pete picked up a pair of the gloves the warehouse agents used and put them on, Renee answered, "I wouldn't have gone this far if I didn't. I'm ready when you are."

Pete smiled as he firmly gripped the prayer rope in his hands, as it was now a lifeline to him, and then replied, "Good, now did you remember to bring me my personal affect? We must get this right or everything we're about to do will go very wrong."

"The slice of your skin you gave me to hold onto for tonight," she spoke as she reached into a vault in the bunker's wall and pulled out a small case containing the delicate DNA sample, then handed it over to him. "You were right. It managed to survive this whole time as you said it would."

"Are you ready to watch me raise the dead?" Pete asked as he looked up at Christine and then back down at his hands as he gently, while firmly holding the artifact and skin together.

Christine scoffed as she responded, "That's impossible. Are you two insane?"

Renee smiled herself as she answered, "Just you watch."

"Licentia mihi vox, quod operor meus bidding huic vultus!" Pete began to chant and then repeated it again and again, each time getting louder. "Licentia mihi vox, quod operor meus bidding huic vultus! Licentia mihi vox, quod operor meus bidding huic vultus! Licentia mihi vox, quod operor meus bidding huic vultus!"

As Pete continued to chant the words, the room began to shake, causing Christine to grab onto Renee in fear while they both looked on in fascination. Then, all of a sudden a bright light surrounded Pete and most of the half of the room he was standing in as he began to cry out in pain. The girls had to cover their eyes as it was too bright to look at any longer. When it finally faded several minutes later, they lowered their hands and stared in awe as they found another man completely naked standing before them, while Pete writhed weakly on the ground as he struggled to get his breathing back under control.

"I cannot believe it worked!" Christine cried out in shock as she continued to stare at the now resurrected stranger, who was looking over his newly formed body in amazement, until Renee grabbed a blanket from off the table nearby and gently wrapped it around him. "It actually worked! The two of you really did manage to raise the dead, but is your friend going to be okay?"

Renee looked down at Pete as the newcomer turned around and leaned down over the warehouse agent, then smugly spoke up with a British accent, "Agent Lattimer will be fine in a little while, at least until I decide how we're going to dispose of him when we're through with him. Thank you, Peter, for your assistance in bringing me back. We really couldn't have accomplished this without you."

Pete stared up fearfully into the man's eyes as he weakly managed to cry out one word before finally falling unconscious, "MacPherson."


	5. Chapter 5

Vengeance Will Be Mine

Chapter Five

Back inside the warehouse…

Myka sat alone out on the patio of Leena's place in silence as she stared straight ahead, unaware of Artie walking up and taking a seat beside her. It wasn't until he cleared his throat for a second time that she finally woke from her trance and looked over at him, then gave a small, insincere smile, and turned away as she took a sip of coffee, which Leena had given her some time ago. When she realized it was now cold, Myka set the cup back down on the table beside her and waited for her friend to say something.

Artie spoke up as he asked, "So, how are you holding up?"

Myka scoffed as she responded, "You already know the answer to that."

"Yes, but I figured I would come out here to check again, maybe give you some kind of pep talk for comfort," Artie replied. "I guess my attempt is pretty futile, huh?"

"We've been looking for Pete and whoever those two blasted thieves are for hours now and so far, we've come up with bupkis!" Myka answered angrily. "I'm angry; no, I'm ticked off!"

Artie put his head down and then looked back up at her as he responded, "As I've told you before, we'll find him. Claudia, Steve, and Leena are still at the warehouse searching for anything that can help us and for any other missing artifacts he might have taken as well. If only we could have used the spectrometer to find out what really happened out there; it would have come in handy."

Myka replied, "Yeah, well five hours came and went long before we knew anything was wrong."

"You blame yourself for Pete's disappearance, don't you?" Artie asked as he finally got the sense as to why she was so angry, aside from the worry for her partner.

"I don't… I should have gone after her instead and let Pete deal with the bratty teenager," Myka answered. "Maybe then…"

Artie interrupted, "If you had, then it would be you we'd all be worried about right now instead and we both know that Pete wouldn't want that just as much as you don't. He's strong, Myka. He'll hold on long enough for us to find him and together, we'll stop whoever's taken him."

Myka responded fearfully, "I really wish I could believe that right now, Artie. I do, but… Before he attacked me, he was suddenly struck with pain and for a brief moment, he was suddenly himself, but he was so scared, more scared than I have ever seen him. He tried to warn me of something. He was trying to tell me whoever it was; that is inside of him, but he couldn't because the monster regained control of him again before he could. He also begged me to help him; to save him. I was in a relationship with Sam, whom I loved, and I have cared for all of my other partners I've had as well, but I have never cared for someone so much, as much as I care for Pete. I don't love him romantically, but I can't… I can't explain how I feel for him. All I know is that I can't lose him because if I fail him, then I will lose myself."

"Mrs. Frederic always did know how to pick us warehouse agents, but I'll admit that both you and Pete are very special, which explains our success rate, despite what the Regents say about us," Artie replied. "Don't lose faith in yourself, Myka. Pete wouldn't want you to and he needs you to keep focused in the task at hand. We will find him, I promise."

"I pray to God your right, Arthur," a familiar voice sounded from behind them and as they turned around, Artie and Myka found both Jane and Mrs. Frederic standing there in the parlor, where their small family always shared their meals together as long as they weren't off on a case.

Artie quickly stood from his seat, as did Myka, and then he cleared his throat out of nervousness, then answered, "Me too… I … I'm sorry, Jane. I didn't mean for…"

Jane cut him off as she said, "It's all right. I'm actually grateful to hear that you two haven't given up, despite the direness of our situation. I know that you'll all do whatever it takes to find my son and bring him home safely."

"He would do the same for any one of us, Ma'am," Myka responded. "Something will turn up very soon, I'm sure of…"

"It looks like you're right, Mykes," Claudia interrupted as she and Steve came bursting into the room. "Jinxie and I didn't find Pete yet, but we think we found our sixteen year old hoodlum, slash thief, slash psycho murderer, or at least a path that could lead us to her, thanks to Myka's detailed description of her. We found out that the FBI has been searching for her too. Perhaps, if you call in for a favor from Pete's ex girlfriend, then maybe she can help you to find out where she is, or anything else about her that might help us."

Myka pulled out her cell phone and moved to leave the room as she replied, "That's great, Claud. I don't know why I didn't think of that before. Of course these two must have some kind of record for them to be willing to kill three people, that we know of, and then kidnap a secret service agent."

Once she was alone, Myka quickly dialed up Kate Logan's number and when the woman answered after the third ring, she stated, "Kate, it's Myka Bering, again. I hate to ask for your help again, but you have some information on a suspect of ours and we really need to find her."

"_Neither one of you ever seem to call me except for when the other one of you is in trouble, and seeing as it's you calling me… Is Pete all right?_" the FBI agent asked.

"I'm not sure," Myka answered, then corrected herself. "I mean, yes, he's in trouble; a lot of trouble, but we have no idea what's going on with him or where they've taken him. All we know so far is that you have a file on at least one of our kidnappers and we have to find her. Can we meet up some place? I'll need everything you can give me. I doubt just a phone conversation would help."

Kate responded, "_Can you meet me in New York City for lunch; I'm buying?_"

Myka quickly put on her coat and left Leena's as she replied, "I'll be there as soon as I can catch a flight. Thank you, Kate."

Agent Logan answered sincerely, "_I told you and Pete that I would always do what I can to help. I meant it._"


	6. Chapter 6

Vengeance Will Be Mine

Chapter Six

When Pete finally awoke from unconsciousness, the first thing he became aware of was the splitting pain in his skull, but after he pushed his way through it, he tried to focus on his surroundings and found that he was lying down on the cold, hard ground in a dimly lit room, unable to move despite being unbound. The pain wasn't just in his head, but throughout his entire body as well.

Pete fought to remember what happened. However, once he finally did, he really wished he didn't, especially when he turned his head as much as he could muster and found MacPherson standing above him with a cruel grin on his face after the villain slowly walked into the room. Pete stared at him briefly and then turned away, hoping that he would go away, knowing full well he wouldn't.

James spoke up as he said smugly, "It's good to see you're finally awake, Mr. Lattimer. You were out for so long, I was beginning to wonder if you would ever wake up."

Pete closed his eyes as a bolt of pain ran through his skull and then responded groggily, "I'll bet that's what you wished for me, am I right?"

"On the contrary," MacPherson answered. "I still have use for you."

"What more can you possibly do to me?" Pete asked as he finally looked over at him again. "You've already forced me to bring you back from the dead, which gives you quite the agonizing overhaul, but I guess you already knew that, which is probably why you managed to convince your two stooges out there to draw me out so that they could whammy me into helping you."

MacPherson replied, "So, you do remember everything that has happened?"

Pete responded, "Yeah, I remember. I remember chasing after your girlfriend out there in the graveyard and then suddenly being struck with some overwhelming hold as I was ordered to chant that spell of yours that revived your spirit, or soul, inside my body. I remember an uncontrollable pain as you overpowered my mind and forced my body to do everything I did to get the artifact that brought you back from the dead. I remember knocking my partner out cold so that we could escape, then shooting at my friend. I remember it all!"

"I must say that you are definitely stronger than I gave you credit for, Peter, but then again, I did once try to recruit you into joining me long ago, shortly before you helped Miss. Wells kill me," James said again.

Pete smiled and then answered smugly, "Even if you offered to heal me, or whatever it is that is wrong with me, I would never agree to join you. You're nothing, but a psycho."

"Yes, so you've said," James replied. "Do not worry, Mr. Lattimer, I don't intend to ask you to join me, nor will I, whammy you into doing my bidding like my associates did before, but you can still be of use to me nonetheless."

"What do you… what do you mean?" Pete asked fearfully as the pain he was feeling began to increase throughout his body.

MacPherson responded, "I want revenge on HG Wells for what she did to me, as well as on Arthur for betraying me, and you're going to convince your friends to help me get what I want."

Pete spoke firmly, "You're wrong. I won't do any… aagh! Oh, God! What the hell is wrong with me?"

"Reviving one from the dead is no small feat, Peter," the villain answered. "Using Rasputin's prayer rope wreaks havoc on its user's body and in time, you will die. Why do you think I recruited my help out there to find the skull so that they could bring me back should I be killed and then told them to lure you out to be my vessel?"

"And what hap… happens to them now; now that they've done… what you wanted them to do?" Pete struggled to ask.

MacPherson replied, "Does it really matter? I am alive again. Now, I can continue my work."

Pete struggled as he responded, "You're wrong! Myka… and the others will stop… stop you!"

"Not this time they won't," MacPherson stated angrily as he reached down and roughly pulled him up and shoved him into Renee's and Christine's arms after they both walked into the room. "And neither will you. I don't need you to do anything for me, but wait to die. Your friends will come for you and then I will finish with them as well.

"What do you want us to do with him?" Christine asked in confusion. "Are you going to use him for some kind of sacrifice or something?"

James answered, "Put him in the SUV and then, Renee, I want you to make the call. We have work to do."

After she helped her friend drag Pete out of the bunker and lay him down inside the vehicle, Christine turned back to MacPherson as she asked, "What can I do? I want to help you. I promise you, I'm in this all the way. You need me to kill, I'll do it. Renee taught me well."

"I'm afraid your services aren't required any longer, my dear," James replied smugly as he pulled out a dagger from his coat pocket and thrust it deep into her chest, causing her to gasp in pain and in shock of his attack. "I don't need a loose cannon running around, who could ruin everything I've put in place."

"Did you really need to do that?" Renee asked as she walked over in time to see Christine fall to the ground dead. "She wasn't too bad you know. She was green, but she would have gotten to be more like me if you gave her the chance."

MacPherson responded, "Just don't cross me and I won't do the same to you. I care for you and saved your life because Carol loved you, but do not think that I won't hesitate doing the same to you if you get in the way of me remaining alive."

Renee nodded as she spoke up again saying, "I understand."

"Good, now make the call to Agent Bering," James answered as he turned to walk back inside the bunker in order to gather together a few things before they left. "She will want to know there's hope of saving her partner's life. It will be a false hope as no matter what she does he will die, but she won't know that until it's too late."


	7. Chapter 7

Vengeance Will Be Mine

Chapter Seven

When Myka arrived back at the warehouse after meeting up with Kate in New York, she found Artie, Claudia, and Steve, all sitting down shuffling through what looked like mountains of books that Artie and Leena had brought up into the office in hope of finding out more about the skull. Each of them seemed to be frazzled and she realized they must have been reading for more than a few hours now, knowing how important it was to discover the truth behind the apparent artifact.

Claudia was the first to speak up after Myka had walked in as she said, "I really hope that you had more luck in finding information than we have. I think Artie was hallucinating, or high, when he thought he read, whatever it was he claims he read about this thing."

Artie glared up at her from behind his book he was currently reading as he replied, "I was not high, nor was I hallucinating. What we're looking for is here somewhere and we're going to find it, no matter how long it takes. Do you hear me?"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, I hear you, Gramps," Claudia answered. "So, Myka, was Kate able to give you anything more on our thieves?"

"I've finally got names," Myka responded as Claudia suddenly moved her chair over in front of the computer in order to hack into their police records. "The young thief is Christine Bellows, which now come to think of it she had told me that night at the grave when I spoke with her, but because of everything that happened, I totally forgot, but it appears Kate's been putting together a file on her as she's really escalated in only a year in a half; everything from pick pocketing to armed robbery and now kidnapping and murder, though Kate doesn't actually believe she's actually been the one to pull the triggers. Her partner, Renee Travelers, is the real piece of work, with the same kinds of charges, but on a much higher scale. According to Kate, the two met and joined up when Renee was caught by the cops after trying to pull off a jewelry store robbery in Chicago, but then was saved by Christine, who was on the same street pick pocketing tourists. Their cases have gone cold, as the two know how to keep hidden, so she's put the cases aside, but now that they're who were looking for, she's graciously agreed to hand their files to us."

As she stared at the computer screen, Claudia continued, "Their last known whereabouts was from three weeks ago when they were in New Orleans. Apparently, a warrant was put out for them after Renee shot and killed a cop, who had pulled them over for speeding."

Steve replied, "I guess our three murder victims they killed using the egg of Columbus weren't their first murders after all. Is there any mention of someone that might have a clue as to where they might be now? What about why they would steal the skull and the prayer rope? Have either one of them lost someone close to them that they would do all this for in order to bring them back from the dead?"

"Not to mention, someone that would know about artifacts?" Artie added.

"Unfortunately not," Claudia answered. "It's obvious that Renee and Christine learned about artifacts, the warehouse, and about us from someone, which explains why they kidnapped Pete, but who could possibly…"

Before she could finish her sentence, Claudia was cut off as Myka's phone rang and the agent saw that it was an unknown caller, then answered it as she suspiciously asked, "Who is this?"

The caller responded, "_Hello, Agent Bering. I'm sorry that I didn't get the chance to meet you that night in the graveyard, but I had a job to do and I wasn't about to risk getting caught._"

"You must be Renee," Myka replied coldly as she stiffened and everyone else in the room turned their eyes on her.

"_So, you figured out who I am?_" Renee stated. "_I thought you might. I've been told you were the brains of your partnership._"

Myka ignored the taunt as she asked angrily, "Where's Pete? I want to know what you've done with him."

The thief answered, "_You'll find out for yourself soon enough, that is as long as you and Agent Nielson agree to meet us and bring with you another one of your precious artifacts to trade for him, or maybe even two._"

"What do you want now?" Myka asked again. "You've already got the skull and used my partner to steal Rasputin's prayer rope so that you can bring someone back from the dead. What more can you possibly want? Who are you trying to bring back?"

"_We're not trying to bring him back, Agent Bering,_" Renee responded. "_We've succeeded and we'll answer all your questions later, but you have to meet our demands. If you don't, you'll never see Agent Lattimer again, nor will you ever know what will have happened to him. Do you really want to spend the rest of your life not knowing? Can you live with yourself knowing that you condemned him to death?_"

Myka angrily replied, "Save your threats. What artifacts do you want now?"

Renee answered smugly, "_The analog password decoder and Jack Duncan's spur. Your partner would have gotten these items himself if he had had the time, but well… you know he didn't._"

"And if we bring these things to you, you'll release whatever hold the skull has on Pete?" Myka asked skeptically. "You'll let him go?"

"_You have my word,_" Travelers responded.

Myka scoffed as she replied, "Forgive me if I don't take your word on that. You have a deal."

Artie quickly tried to protest saying, "Myka, you can't…"

"We'll bring the artifacts, but know that if you go back on your word and Pete dies, we will make you suffer as much as he has; I promise you that," Myka interrupted Artie while holding up her hand to him as she continued to speak with Renee. "Send me the coordinates of where you want to meet up with the time and we'll be there."

"_Very well,_" the thief answered. "_It was a pleasure doing business with you, Agent Bering. We'll see you soon._"

As soon as she hung up, followed by Myka, Artie spoke up again as he said, "Myka, you know you can't just hand over a couple of artifacts to whoever these trigger happy, psychopathic thieves are and their soon to be resurrected companion, who I'm sure is the devil incarnate, even if it's to save Pete."

Myka shook her head fearfully as she responded, "She said that they already used the prayer rope. Whoever they wanted to raise from the dead, is alive again, which means that Pete may possibly be released from the skull's power, but… I hate to know what's being done to him now. Don't worry, Artie. I may have promised that we'd bring them the artifacts with us, but that doesn't mean I intended to follow through with it. We need to come up with a plan."

"Hey ah, guys?" Steve spoke up again as he held up the book he was skimming through. "I think I've found what we've been looking for. You were right, Artie. The skull definitely belongs to Rasputin, though this book doesn't explain why it was buried in Michigan. It says that the skull has the ability to raise the spirit of any one the user chooses by chanting some spell, again, not in the book, and when done, the spirit possesses the user's body. According to this, the spirit becomes the dominating soul within the body, making it so that Pete would have remained dormant, except…"

"Except for when he fought through to try to warn us," Myka interrupted as a text came through on her phone letting her know where and when to meet up with the thieves. "And now that the spirit is out of Pete and in its newly resurrected body, what will happen to Pete?"

Artie took the book from out of Steve's hands and began to skim over it himself, then looked back up at her as he replied, "I'm not sure. The book doesn't say, but whatever it is, it can't be good."

Myka nodded and then stated firmly, "Then, let's get going. The longer we take to get to him, the worse off he'll be."


	8. Chapter 8

Vengeance Will Be Mine

Chapter Eight

As Myka was finishing getting packed and ready for their meet with Renee, Christine, and most likely, whoever it was they had brought back to life, when Claudia walked over to her and asked, "I know that you and Artie have got some kind of plan in place, or maybe you're just planning on winging it, but don't you think that Jinxie and I ought to come along to help you out? I mean, these two did get one up on you before."

Myka finished strapping one of her guns to her ankle and lowered her pant leg over it as she answered, "Maybe so, but I really don't think these two are masterminds. They're just good thieves. However, our dead person may be a different story. Who said you and Steve aren't coming?"

"Ah, you didn't tell us so after you and Artie had your quiet, little talk," Claudia replied.

"I didn't think I had to," the lead agent responded. "I figured that you both would have followed us and then come in to rescue us if we needed you to."

Claudia smiled as she answered, "Of course we were. I was just checking. So, do you think Artie's seen his car yet?"

All of a sudden, they both heard Artie shout out from inside the umbilicus angrily, "Who blew up my car?"

"I'll take that as a yes," Myka replied as the two of them began to snicker until Artie walked back into the room.

"I'm assuming you two know about this?" Artie growled. "What happened?"

Steve walked back into the room, followed by Jane and Mrs. Frederic, as he responded, "That was Pete, or whoever is inside of him. He took several shots at me and then in order to escape, he fired at your car to make it explode; sorry."

Jane spoke up as she asked, "You said that the coordinates your thief gave you are for an area that's somewhere here in Univille?"

"Yes, that's right," Myka answered solemnly. "I believe they lead to the town's graveyard. I think they're trying to go for irony by going there. We'll get him back, Jane. I'm not willing to do this job with anyone else. If God, or whoever's up there pulling our strings, cares at all about the rest of this world, he won't let two of its protectors go any time soon."

"Agent Bering is right," Mrs. Frederic confirmed confidently. "I didn't enlist someone with no fight in him, especially up against two good for nothing thieves. Your son will give them hell long enough for the rest of us to find him, then we'll take them down, and will all return home."

Myka looked down at her watched, then turned back to her friends as she stated, "We need to get going before we're late."

Artie looked over at Mrs. Frederic almost apologetically and then back at Myka as he replied, "All right, but it looks like we're going to have to take her vehicle, seeing as Pete took yours and blew up mine, unless of course you think we have time to walk all the way back to Leena's to get Claudia's and Steve's?"

"Go ahead and take it," the warehouse's guardian responded. "Just try not to get this one blown up or shot to hell like you've all done in the past."

"We'll be back," Myka said and then turned to look between Claudia and Steve. "Are you two ready?"

Claudia grinned as she checked the energy level on her tesla gun and answered, "We're ready, baby. Let's go catch us a couple of good for nothing thieves."

Twenty minutes later…

Myka and Artie pulled into the graveyard and after driving down the path winding through it for a few minutes, they finally pulled over as they saw Pete's SUV, unable to see who was inside of it due to it being dark outside, but as they drove up, a woman, whom Myka and Artie assumed was Renee Travelers, stepped out of the vehicle and stood beside it after closing its door behind her.

The warehouse agents followed suit and when they moved out in front of their SUV and began to walk toward her, apparently unarmed, Renee pulled up a shotgun and aimed it at them as she called out, "That's far enough, Agent Bering; Agent Nielson. Did you bring the artifacts we talked about?"

"First we want to see Pete," Myka called back as she moved out a little more with her arms raised up. "I want to know he's all right. So, where is he?"

"He's still alive, though he's in pretty bad shape," the woman replied. "It couldn't be helped. It's what happens when bringing back the dead. Your partner's nothing if not resilient."

Myka looked over at Artie with fear in her eyes and then he turned to look back toward the thief as he responded, "You won't get anything from us if you don't release him. How do you know so much about us and Warehouse 13? Who did you use the resurrection artifacts for to bring back?"

After another person stepped out from Renee's SUV and closed the vehicle's door behind them, an eerie and all too familiar sounding voice suddenly answered, "That would be because I know about as much about the warehouse and its artifacts as you, Arthur, if not more."

"James?" Artie cried out in shock as he looked upon his ex partner after he stepped out of the shadows and into the light coming from the lamp post standing between them.

"Oh my God, MacPherson, you're who Pete was trying to warn me about," Myka exclaimed angrily and then looked over at Renee. "Why… how could you bring back him? He's nothing, but a psychopathic murderer!"

Renee replied smugly, "Why not? He saved my life and promised me a lifetime of…"

Myka interrupted, "Of what; endless wonder? Let me tell you something, sweetheart. He lied! MacPherson cares nothing for anyone, but himself and as soon as he's done using you, he'll kill you."

"No I won't, Agent Bering," the villain responded. "She's family, or as close to all the family I've got. Besides, I need someone in this world that doesn't think the worst of me."

"How did you pull this off, James?" Artie asked as he moved forward to stand next to Myka. "You obviously taught this thief all about artifacts before you died, but how…"

MacPherson cut him off as he answered, "How did I know I was going to die? I didn't, but I thought it best to put a contingency plan in place in case I did. I should have known that H.G. would have double crossed me. How is the conniving woman, anyway? Did you kill her too?"

Myka raised her hands in protest of where this conversation was heading as she shook her head and said, "I don't really care about this right now. Where's Pete? I want him back, now! If you want the artifacts you've asked for, you will let us see him for ourselves."

"He's close by, my dear," James replied coldly. "In fact, he's just beneath our feet."

"Beneath your… you buried him alive?" Artie asked fearfully, when all of a sudden a couple of shots were fired toward the villains by Steve as he stood up from behind a tombstone and Claudia, who also quickly stood up from behind another tombstone, then shouted out for Myka and Artie to get down as she struck Laverlong's elephant walking stick against the ground in order to distract the bad guys so that they could help their friend.

As she did so, MacPherson and Renee collapsed to the ground, but then swiftly got up and began to fire their own shots toward the younger agents, as well as toward Myka and Artie, in order to get away, despite not getting what they had come for. Myka fired her own shots as Claudia pulled out her tesla gun and tried to get a blast off to stop them from running, but unfortunately, she was too late and the villains got away.

Myka ran forward after throwing her gun down and discovering the disturbed ground near where MacPherson and Renee were standing moments before, knowing that that was where the two had buried her partner, as she shouted out, "Pete! Artie, Claudia, Steve, help me dig, please; he's here!"

Artie followed as he uneasily bent down as they both began to dig frantically, then Claudia and Steve did as well, as Claudia called out, "MacPsycho and his crony are getting away!"

"Who cares?" Myka responded angrily as they all continued to dig as quickly as they could, all of them being afraid for their friend. "Pete! Pete, hang on! We're here, just hold on, please!"

Luckily, the rickety old, wooden coffin the villains had buried Pete in wasn't buried deep, which meant that there was a chance he was still alive. When they finally got down to it, Artie and Steve broke through the coffin's lid and together they all carefully pulled Pete out and laid him down on the ground gently. Steve quickly held his wrist to feel for a pulse, while Myka bent down closer to him, laying her head close to his mouth so that she could listen for his breath, then down on his chest to listen for his heartbeat, but when she didn't hear either one, she suddenly began to do mouth to mouth on him and Artie followed suit by beating up and down on Pete's chest.

"Please don't do this, Pete!" Myka cried softly in between breaths, then continued until suddenly her partner drew in a large breath, and opened his eyes wide, looking around fearfully at the faces above him as Myka ran one hand gently over his face and held the other one over his heart to give him comfort. "You're going to be all right. You're going to be all right."

"My… Myka?" he finally spoke up weakly.

Tears poured down from her eyes as Artie answered quietly, "Yeah, Pete. We're all here for you. We're all here."


	9. Chapter 9

Vengeance Will Be Mine

Chapter Nine

After they drew Pete up out of the grave MacPherson and Renee had cruelly dug for him, Myka carefully pulled him into her arms and held onto him tightly, almost as if she believed that in moments he was going to fade away, while he struggled to remain conscious. She could feel tremors shake throughout his entire body and he felt cold to her touch.

Pete struggled as he tried to make out the words, "It wa… was Mac… Ma… MacPh…"

Myka moved one of her hands and gently placed it on the side of his face as she whispered, "It's all right, Pete. We already know that MacPherson's the one behind all this. We're going to find him and stop him just like before, but right now, you need to focus on yourself; focus on getting better."

"Myka's ri… she's right," Artie replied softly as he began to thoroughly check Pete's vitals and then looked up fearfully between Myka, Claudia, and Steve.

"What is it, Artie?" Claudia asked. "What's wrong with him? Why is he so cold?"

Artie looked back down at Pete as he responded, "It's like James said. Raising the dead has consequences and he knew that, which is why he found someone to use in order to draw out someone, who had the access to pull this off; someone, who would be the one to suffer those consequences. Pete's body is shutting down. It's only a matter of time before death finds him, unless… unless we find out how we can reverse this."

Pete's eyes closed as his body lulled into unconsciousness once again, then Myka spoke up again as she asked coldly, "What do we have to do?"

"First, we need to get him back to Leena's," Artie answered. "On our way back, I'll call Vanessa. Hopefully, she'll be able to keep him alive long enough for us to hunt MacPherson and our thieves down."

"Christine wasn't with them," Steve spoke up. "You don't think…?"

Claudia interrupted, "I'll bet you they killed her. She was young and as Myka said, cocky. She probably became the third wheel and so they decided to get rid of her."

As he and the others helped lift Pete off of the ground, Artie nodded and then replied, "You're probably right. We'll figure this out. I promise, Myka."

Meanwhile…

As soon as they got back into their vehicle and sped off, Renee quickly turned to look over at MacPherson and as she struggled to get her breath back from running, she asked in confusion, "Why'd we just run? We didn't get what we came here for and now they've got Agent Lattimer back. We've got nothing to bargain with!"

"On the contrary, Renee," James responded. "We've still got Rasputin's skull and prayer rope. Lattimer is still connected to them both and unless his friends get them back and neutralize them, he will die. His life is in our hands and they know it, which means…"

"Which means that they'll do anything to get their hands on our artifacts, including trade them for whatever we want," Renee continued smugly.

"Arthur won't take this lightly, nor will Agent Bering," MacPherson stated. "They'll do whatever they can to save him, but they won't give up any artifacts that have the power to harm others, which is all of them. They all have a downside. We must think hard about how we're going to use Lattimer's failing health to our advantage."

Fifteen minutes later…

As soon as they arrived back at Leena's, in record time, Myka, Steve, and Claudia helped each other carry Pete inside and worked their way up to Pete's room, then laid him down on his bed and covered him up in hope that they would be able to warm him. As they did so, Jane swiftly came in behind them and pushed her way through to her son's bedside, not caring that fear for Pete's life came across, the Regents being known for never allowing their emotions to show.

She rubbed her hands across Pete's face and neck and then as she took one of his hands in her own, keeping her other on his forehead, she looked up between both Artie and Myka and asked, "Were you not able to recover the artifacts that caused this? How could two thieves know so much about us?"

Artie looked down as Jane continued to look angrily between them for answers and then Myka finally spoke up as she answered sadly, "It's because MacPherson's the one behind this, not them."

"MacPherson?" Jane cried out in shock. "But that's impos… Why would they want to resurrect James MacPherson? What happened out there?"

"James had one up on us," Artie replied. "They buried Pete alive and in order to save him, we had to let them escape after a fight broke out. They've still got the artifacts, but I promise you, Jane, we will find them and we will do whatever it takes to save your son."

Jane spoke up again as she asked sadly, "How long does he have before the effects of the skull and prayer rope kill him?"

Artie responded again, "I don't know, but I'm sure there are some of our artifacts that we can use to delay the effects if we have to."

"Artie's right," Myka said. "We've used other artifacts to save each of us before; P.T. Barnum's top, the snow globe, Studio 54's disco ball… Artie, do you know of something we can use to help Pete?"

"I don't know, Myka," Artie answered. "I don't know, but Vanessa will be here soon and you know that she'll take good care of him. Right now, it's our job to track down MacPherson, as well as to figure out absolutely everything else there is to know about the skull and prayer rope. Pete's still connected to these artifacts and unless we know exactly how to neutralize them, we may only make things worse. The prayer rope shouldn't be a problem, but the skull…."

Steve spoke up saying, "We only have limited information on the skull. What I shared with you earlier was all that there was in that book."

Mrs. Frederic replied, "Then, we need to find someone, who knows all there is about the skull. Jane, you and I need to go and speak with the other Regents. One of them must know what we need to know."

"I can't leave my son," Jane responded as she looked down at Pete again.

"I'm going to need you if we're going to get the help we need, Jane," Mrs. Frederic spoke again. "You have more influence over the others than I do."

Myka moved forward and took a seat on the bed on his other side and then answered, "Don't worry, Ma'am. I'll stay with him. We'll all take turns so that he won't be left alone. Pete was here for me when Man Ray's camera nearly killed me."

Claudia added, "We're always here for each other. We always win after we're done kicking the bad guys' butts. MacPherson's toast and so is whoever this Renee Travelers is. Perhaps if we find out more about her background and make the connection between her and MacPsycho, then we'll be able to find out where they went."

"Yes, excellent work, Claudia," Artie replied. "You get on that. Steve and I will take care of the rest."

"That's right," Steve agreed. "I don't have many friends and I'm certainly not about to lose one to this, MacPsycho, as Claudia so loves to call this guy, but just so that I'm clear, are we going to try to bring him in alive, or are we going to kill him?"

Artie answered firmly, "As I said, whatever it takes."


	10. Chapter 10

Vengeance Will Be Mine

Chapter Ten

Claudia and Steve were currently sitting down in front of the computer inside the warehouse going over both Christine Bellows' and Renee Travelers' criminal records with a fine tooth comb, hoping to find something more that could lead the agents to them and MacPherson, while Artie, well Artie was off making cookies as it helped to keep himself from worrying too much, as there was nothing more he could do right then. Myka wanted to be left alone as she remained back at Leena's to take care of her partner.

Claudia started to share with Steve more about whom MacPherson was, but shortly after doing so, Steve spoke up as he asked, "What caused a man good enough to become a warehouse agent, turn out like all that?"

The youngest of their little family answered, "He started believing that the artifacts belonged out in the world instead of bundled and locked up tight inside a stuffy old warehouse where no one could enjoy them. Then, his wife, or girlfriend, I'm not exactly sure what she was to him, was caught up in a fire and so he stole the phoenix to save her, causing five firemen to die. That's what the artifact does. In order for it to save a life, it takes a life in return and James knew it. He was fired and banned from the warehouse, then injected with some kind of serum that causes a person to implode, rather grotesquely, if he or she were to re-enter here. What Artie and the Regents didn't realize at the time was that James had been stealing other artifacts and selling them to the highest bidders. They tried to catch him, but it wasn't until he came back to the warehouse in order to de-bronze H.G. so that he could gain access to another certain artifact that he couldn't get his hands on without her. Then, she turned on him; killed him, just so that she could escape."

"I'm beginning to understand why all of you are hoping that we'll have to kill him, again," Jinks responded. "He really is evil."

"He's more than simply evil," Artie replied as he walked back into the room carrying a tray full of cookies. "He'll kill each one of us without even blinking an eyelash in order to have his way with the artifacts and he doesn't care who else he hurts or kills either. I was sympathetic at first, but…"

Claudia interrupted, "He certainly doesn't deserve our sympathy anymore. Man, I can't imagine how Pete must be feeling right now… I mean, other than the suffering he's feeling because of what the artifacts are doing to him."

Artie answered despondently, "No doubt he's blaming himself for allowing James and the thieves to get the drop on him. If anything happens to any one of us because of MacPherson being brought back, he'll lose all faith in himself and pray for death to come to him. That's just how Pete is."

"Hey, I've got something," Claudia said swiftly as she looked back at her computer after it suddenly began to beep, alerting them to some kind of newsflash. "Oh boy, this isn't good."

"What is it?" Artie asked. "Was one of our thieves found dead or something?"

Claudia looked over at Artie as she responded in surprise, "Actually, yeah."

With just as much surprise in his voice, Artie asked again, "What? I meant... I was being sarcastic. Who?"

"It looks like Christine Bellows' body was just found inside some hotel room here in South Dakota; nowhere around Univille, but way up north," Claudia replied as she began to type wildly to scan through the police report. "She was stabbed to death and the local police say that there's no trace of whoever it was that did it. There's a shock."

"Why would MacPherson kill one of his own stooges?" Steve asked. "Do you think that she tried to double cross him? She was just a kid."

Artie shook his head as he answered, "No, I doubt it. A girl crazy enough as she was most likely just got in his way. He probably killed her because he wasn't about to let a teenage girl keep him from staying alive. We told you he was evil."

Jinks responded, "Yeah, I got that."

"So, it looks like we won't be able to find MacPsycho by looking anything up on the youngest of our thieves," Claudia spoke up again. "However, maybe we'll get lucky with more information on Miss. Travelers."

"I doubt it," Artie replied skeptically.

Claudia looked over at Artie again as she asked, "What, now you've decided to bring back your usual pessimism?"

Artie glared at her as he answered, "No, I'm just saying that I doubt he'll be stupid enough to hide somewhere other than in a place that he's the only one who knows about. They must be close by because we know that he's still after the artifacts they wanted and probably even the warehouse. He wants revenge. They won't leave wherever they're hiding until they're done."

"Any ideas on how to locate them now?" Claudia asked fearfully.

"None," Artie stated in frustration. "You know how good James was at hiding. I've got nothing."

Meanwhile…

Myka continued to sit beside Pete on the side of his bed as she gently wiped down his face and body with a cool, wet cloth in hope of bringing down the raging fever, or slowing down whatever it was that was happening to him because of the artifacts that were threatening to steal his life away.

While she did so, she kept quoting several books from her parent's bookstore, hoping that just maybe he would wake up again to crack some kind of joke as he always did, indicating that she was a total nerd. It also gave her small comfort, as the written word always could, which she desperately needed. Unfortunately, nothing happened. Her partner remained in an uncomfortable sleep, small tremors still shaking throughout him as his body continued to weaken by the moment.

"Cosette and Marius fell on their knees, overwhelmed, choked with tears, each grasping one of Jean Valjean's hands," Myka quoted from the book, Les Miserables. "Those noble hands moved no more. He had fallen back, the light from the candlesticks fell across him; his white face looked up toward heaven, he let Cosette and Marius cover his hands with kisses; he was dead. The night was starless and very dark. Without any doubt, in the gloom, some mighty angel was standing, with outstretched wings, waiting for the soul."

After finishing saying these words, Myka suddenly stopped as she looked down at her partner's pale, almost lifeless face, then quietly spoke to him saying, "I'm not sure why I'm quoting Les Miserables to you, let alone the words Victor Hugo wrote as the main character dies. I'm pretty sure you've never heard of it. I doubt you've even seen either of the movies, seeing as it has nothing to do with the superheroes from your comic books you love so much. If I knew lines from any of them, I might try quoting them instead. The heroes from my kinds of books may die sometimes, but your Iron Shadow and Batman never do. You have to keep fighting, Pete; like them. Please, don't leave me."

It was then that a single word finally slipped from his mouth, while his eyes remained closed, in a barely audible whisper as he had earlier at the graveyard, "My… Myka."

Nothing more than her name was spoken, but it gave Myka the hope she needed, knowing that he was still fighting to live and aware that she was sitting there talking with him, then, as she took hold of his hand in her own, she responded quietly, "I knew you weren't giving up, Pete. Prove to me that I was right to choose you as my favorite superhero and not Superman."


	11. Chapter 11

Vengeance Will Be Mine

Chapter Eleven

Hours passed and Artie walked into Pete's room carrying a mug and pot of tea in his hands, along with a small plate of cookies, and quietly offered them to Myka after she quickly sat up from resting her head on his chest, whom the older agent could see was only weakening more and more as time went by. The young man looked dreadful and Artie could only imagine the amount of pain he was fighting through.

Despite knowing what her answer would be, mainly because he wasn't sure what more to say at first, Artie cleared his throat, as Myka didn't look up from keeping her eyes down on Pete, and asked nervously, "How is he doing?"

Still without looking up, she replied softly, "He's only growing worse. He's aware that we're here with him and not going to give up hope, but…"

"But that doesn't makes things any easier waiting for something that will lead us to finding MacPherson and the artifacts," Artie finished for her as he set the tea and mug down on the nightstand beside the bed. "I know. I brought you some tea and some cookies. Why don't you go ahead and have some, then go and get some sleep yourself? You're exhausted."

"I'm fine," she retorted, more curtly than what she meant to come across. "Is there anything you've found that can help us?"

Artie took a seat in the chair on the opposite side from where Myka was sitting down on her partner's bed, still holding onto his hand, and then answered, "I'm afraid not, but we will, Myka. We always do, no matter how close the call. Remember when you and Pete stopped H.G. from destroying the world with the Minoan trident? Things looked pretty bleak then and you left, thinking that you had still failed and because you were afraid of what you might lose, but Pete brought you back, despite the risk of that loss. You've both almost died, just the same as the rest of us, multiple times, but he made you see the truth. That the two of you are meant to be partners in protecting this endless wonder and protecting the world from their effects. That you two are the best agents this warehouse, or any warehouse for that matter, has ever had; so I've been told or lead to believe by Mrs. Frederic and a few of the Regents, other than Jane. Valda was the only one, who didn't seem to like you, but even he couldn't deny your good work. Can you?"

Myka finally looked up at him and answered, "I can't deny we do a lot of good, Artie, but there's still a part of me that wishes I took my out after I fought Dickenson for my transfer. However, I never will regret getting to know Pete or any of the rest of you, even Mrs. Frederic."

"Neither will I," Artie responded. "Now, please go and get yourself some sleep. You'll need to get rest before we have another showdown with MacPherson, who no doubt has a stash of his own artifacts that we never could find after he died. I'll stay here with Pete."

"All right, I… wait a minute…" she began to say until she suddenly looked down at her watch with confusion. "Shouldn't Vanessa be here by now? It's been hours since we've been back, hasn't it?"

Artie nodded and replied, "She's running a little later than she expected unfortunately, but she will be here soon. Now go. I promise to wake you if his condition changes."

Myka nodded and gently patted his hand, then finally left the room after she got one last look at her partner. After doing so, Artie made himself comfortable in the chair he was already sitting in for his own shift of looking after the younger man. He stared down at Pete and found that he couldn't say anything, as no words came to his mind. Luckily, he didn't have to sit in silence for long as it was a few minutes later that Claudia suddenly walked into the room, followed by Vanessa, who was carrying her medical bag in her hands, then swiftly made her way to Pete, and began to look him over using a number of her tools.

Dr. Calder was the first to speak up as she briefly looked up at Artie and asked, "How long as he been unconscious?"

"Pretty much ever since we found him, just before I called you," Artie answered grimly. "He was awake for a minute once we got him breathing again after pulling him out of the grave that bastard buried him in, but barely."

"And how long has he been shaking like this?" she asked again.

Artie responded, "The same, ever since we pulled him out. Can you help him, Vanessa?"

After looking to his eyes as she opened them, then feeling his pulse, listened intently to his breathing, and finally listening to his heartbeats, the doctor finally looked up at Artie and replied, "I might be able to do something for him, but if I can, it will only be a temporary, a very temporary, solution. You said that there were two artifacts that caused this?"

"Yes, that's right," Artie answered. "Rasputin's skull and his prayer rope. The thieves must have whammied him so that he would be forced to say whatever the spell was to revive MacPherson's spirit while holding onto the skull. After James possessed Pete, he must have recited some other chant that allowed him to resurrect his body as well using the prayer rope. This de-possessed Pete, but this is the results, after he was buried alive too, I mean. If anyone knows how to use these artifacts properly, it's James."

"Whammied?" Vanessa asked humorously in hope of lightening the mood just a little.

Artie shrugged his head and then responded, "I've been around Pete for a long time now. What are you going to do for him?"

Vanessa looked fearful as she looked back down at her patient and replied, "Normally, I would just recommend medicines to help him cope with the pain, but… well, because I'm not sure how the drugs will affect his system in his condition, I can't take that risk. He's in bad shape, Artie, and he won't last much longer, no matter how much of a fighter he is, unless…"

"Unless what?" Artie asked with hope in his voice. "Is there an artifact that you're thinking will help him?"

"You're not going to like it," Vanessa stated despondently.

It was then that Jane walked into the room once again and said firmly, "If it will help save my son's life, then do it; whatever it is you're thinking of."

Vanessa nodded and answered, "If we're going to keep him alive long enough for you all to do whatever it is you have to do to get back Rasputin's artifacts, then I'm going to have to use the snow globe to freeze his body into a cryogenic state. It will stop the process his body's going through. I can do this, Jane; Artie. I can stay here and monitor his vitals while you're gone. Once you succeed and reverse the artifacts' effects, then I can use one of the Florence Nightingale blankets you have stored in the warehouse to warm him up."

"Do it," Jane responded firmly to the doctor. "I'll stay here with you while the others are gone and Artie…?"

"I'll have Claudia go get the blanket and the snow globe, then let everyone else know what we're doing," Artie replied confidently, or at least as confidently as he could muster, despite feeling nervous over the riskiness of their plan.

Jane answered, "Thank you!"


	12. Chapter 12

Vengeance Will Be Mine

Chapter Twelve

"You're going to do what?" Myka cried out in surprise as Artie and Vanessa were trying to explain to her and the others what the doctor was planning to do to try to prolong Pete's life after Claudia and Steve had returned from the warehouse with the snow globe and one of the two known blankets once used by Florence Nightingale to help warm up the wounded and sick men and women she helped to heal in her days as a nurse. "Artie, that's crazy. I mean, so far there have been no known successful cryogenic attempts. Even if you are using an artifact I… surely this is too risky."

"Believe me, I know what the risks are here, Myka," Vanessa responded. "And I certainly wouldn't try to do this without the snow globe, but it's because of the artifact that I believe it's possible. The science isn't sound, but I believe that the magic is."

Claudia shrugged her head and replied, "Hey, I trust her. She's had to save a few of us in the past with or without artifacts, as well as a number of other people. She obviously knows what's she's doing, otherwise I doubt Mrs. F. and the Regents would allow her to be the doctor on call here."

Steve nodded and said, "She's got a point."

"I promise, I'll monitor him closely until the rest of you get back," Vanessa spoke again.

"Jane, do you really agree with this?" Myka asked skeptically.

Pete's mother was about to answer, when all of a sudden Pete weakly spoke up instead as he slowly opened his eyes and turned his head toward the sound of the voices in his room, answering, "Do it. It's o… okay, Mykes."

Both his partner and mother moved over to him as he tried to reach out for a hand and Jane took hold of his as she sat down on his bed beside him, then Myka finally nodded in agreement as she responded, "All right. You've just got to promise me you won't quit on us."

"I don't want to… to go anywhere, but I need you to prom… promise me something too, all of you," Pete replied.

"You're not going to die, Peter," Jane said before he could say anymore, knowing what he was going to say.

He turned his head to look over at his mother as he answered, "You don… don't know that, Mom. If I die… promise me you won't… that you won't use an artifact to brin… bring me back."

Myka shook her head as she responded, "There are other artifacts we can use to…"

"No!" Pete suddenly cut her off forcibly and then began to cough uncontrollably as the strain got to him until Myka and Jane helped to calm him back down.

"Pete," Myka spoke softly and the stopped in order to allow him to finish what he was trying to say.

Her partner was beginning to lose consciousness again, but struggled to finish as he pleaded, "No, My…ka. This is what hap… happens when you mess… mess with the dead. Please don… don…"

After he passed out, Myka swiftly left the room as she was unable to hold back her own anger and tears any longer, not wanting the others to see her cry, then Artie looked between Jane, Claudia, Steve, Leena, and Mrs. Frederic sadly, and said, "If we're going to do this, then let's do this. At the very least, Pete won't have to suffer anymore once he's frozen."

"I'll go speak with Myka," Leena replied as she turned and left the room to go after her friend.

"Jane, are you ready for me to do this?" Vanessa asked as she looked up at the Regent after taking the woman's place beside Pete on his bed, while holding the snow globe in her hands.

Jane gently rubbed her hand along the side of Pete's face and bent down to kiss his forehead, then looked back at the doctor as she answered, "I am. Please, Vanessa, please save my son."

Dr. Calder nodded, then held the artifact up over his chest, and finally began to gently shake its magic on him as his body slowly began to freeze into a cryogenic state. As she did so, tears formed in Jane's eyes as well, as it was unbearable for her to watch her own son being frozen, knowing that this process was Pete's last chance of surviving what James MacPherson had done to him. After noticing her crying, Artie slowly reached up and placed his hand on her shoulder for comfort, just as Steve did for Claudia, both of whom were looking down at their friend in fear.

After she was finished, Vanessa quickly handed the snow globe over to Claudia and then began to check over Pete's vitals to make sure he was still doing all right. It wasn't long afterward that they all suddenly heard Artie's Farnsworth begin to buzz, causing everyone to look between each other in confusion. When he finally found it inside his jacket's pocket, which he had thrown over another chair in the room, he opened the case and pushed the button, only to reveal MacPherson as his face appeared upon the screen.

Artie stared at him in surprise as he asked, "James, how do you have one of our Farnsworths?"

"_I'm surprised you have to ask, Arthur,_" MacPherson responded. "_I took it off of Agent Lattimer when he was in our custody. I figured it would probably come in handy eventually._"

"We know what you want, James," Artie continued. "We're not going to just hand over artifacts to you."

MacPherson grinned and then replied, "_Actually, I think you will and I think you already know why._"

Artie looked over between Jane and Mrs. Frederic, then back at the Farnsworth and answered, "Yeah, because you still have Rasputin's prayer rope and skull, both of which are still linked to Pete. We know that they can't be destroyed or he'll die, which means that the only way to undo all this, is to give them a good soak in the de-neutralizer."

"_That, and you must also be willing to send back the life of the one resurrected to wherever it was it came from,_" James added. "_As you would expect, for me it was Hell. When I died before, you almost appeared remorseful and troubled. Do you really think that you can be the one to kill me this time?_"

"To save my son, I would willingly go through Hell myself," Jane said resolutely as she grabbed the Farnsworth away from Artie and stared angrily at the man responsible for her son's suffering. "If killing you again is what we have to do, then I will happily do so."

MacPherson stared back at Jane, this being the first time they've met, and then responded, "_Perhaps so, Mrs. Lattimer, but I'm afraid that this time, vengeance will be mine. Tell Artie and whoever else is there to bring me the specified artifacts from earlier, as well as the phoenix and the walking stick you used on us at the graveyard. Otherwise, I will destroy the skull and prayer rope and your son will die. It's been a pleasure meeting you._"

After James hung up, Jane slammed the lid closed and roughly handed the Farnsworth back to Artie, then walked toward the door as she angrily stated, "Find him. I don't care how, just find him. Bronzing may be how we usually deal with our villains, but I'm afraid this time, we don't have a choice. If it truly comes down to either Peter's or James MacPherson's life, I will gladly choose my son."

Everyone in the room nodded in agreement as Artie replied coldly, "So will I."


	13. Chapter 13

Vengeance Will Be Mine

Chapter Thirteen

After Leena followed Myka downstairs and out to the back patio, where Myka had a tendency to go whenever she was troubled, mainly in the middle of the night, the hostess walked toward the warehouse agent, but stopped before interrupting her thoughts. The intuitive knew that Myka knew she was standing there behind her.

"I'm not sure why this is hitting me so hard," Myka said without turning around. "I mean, it's not like we haven't been through this before. We've been through this a number of times. Pete's almost died, I've almost died, You, Claudia and Artie…"

"That doesn't make this time any easier," Leena responded softly after Myka cut herself off. "But you know that every time, we figure out a way to fix everything and then bag and tag the artifacts."

Myka scoffed, then finally turned around to look at Leena as she replied, "Maybe so, but eventually our luck is surely going to run out. Think about all of the agents that have either been killed or gone insane because of what we do. We may have gotten through this so far, but this time's different. Pete was used as an instrument to bring back a psychopathic murderer from the dead."

Leena answered sadly, "I'm not sure how long it will take for him to recover, but…"

"What if he doesn't, Leena?" Myka shouted out angrily as tears began to slowly fall down her face. "Or worse yet, what if he does and he's not himself anymore. What if he does go insane? It is one thing for me to live with the fact that Sam was killed because of an artifact. At least he died with a single, quick bullet to the head. I've come to terms with it, but even though it's been only three years since Pete and I've become partners, I know him more than I ever did Sam. I… I don't know how to explain it. I just know that I cannot deal with him not being okay; with him not being Pete."

"I know," Leena finally spoke up again after listening to the agent in silence and then remaining silent for another minute in order to try to come up with the right thing to say, unsure of what that right thing was. "I can sense your pain, Myka and believe me, everyone else here is feeling the same way. Your job, all our jobs, it's dangerous, but someone has to do it and Pete knows that. He isn't here just because he's a secret service agent, who's willing to take a bullet at anytime to protect you and everyone he loves, as well as his country, but he's here because he's strong, because he's incredibly in tune with the world around him, and because he has more heart than anyone I've ever known all these years I've been working here. I am afraid for him, but at the same time, I am glad that it's him going through this because if it was you, or Artie, or Claudia that MacPherson is tearing apart, then I wouldn't believe so strongly that any of you would survive like I do with Pete."

Myka stared at Leena for a few seconds, then suddenly rushed forward, wrapping her arms around the woman standing in front of her in a hug, and when she let go, she responded quietly, "Thank you!"

It was then that Artie walked into the room, followed by Claudia, Steve, and Mrs. Frederic and as they did so, Myka quickly wiped her eyes, then Leena quickly asked, "How is everything going up…?"

"Is Pete doing all right?" Myka interrupted. "Was Vanessa able to… to…?"

"Pete is doing fine," Vanessa replied and then noticed the scowl on Myka's face. "What I mean to say is that the freezing process went as well as I could have hoped. His vitals are weak, but he's fine, for now."

Myka let out a breath of relief, then Claudia spoke up saying, "I hate to put more stress or pressure, or whatever this is that everyone's feeling around here, but we really need to come up with a plan on how we're going to get back the skull and prayer rope before they're destroyed and then kill MacPherson."

Myka looked at Claudia in surprise, then over at Artie, and asked, "What do you mean kill MacPherson? I mean, not that I have a problem with that seeing as he's done all this to Pete and is technically already dead, but I expected all the higher ups would want us to bring him in so that he can be bronzed, again. And what does it matter if the artifacts are destroyed? If they are, maybe then everything will be reversed."

"Unfortunately, not," Artie answered. "Both artifacts are still linked to Pete. If they're destroyed, Pete will die. They must be de-neutralized, thoroughly. Also, there's another hitch, which the rest of the Regents would not approve of, accept for Jane, so when we do it, we're all going to be in a lot of trouble and probably fired, maybe even bronzed ourselves. We have to send James back to Hades in Hell. If we don't…"

"If we don't, my son will die," Jane said coldly as she walked finally walked in as well. "I can't lose Peter to this job and especially not because of James MacPherson. I would rather spend eternity in the bronze sector, than live the rest of my life knowing that Peter died, especially because I dragged him into this life. I'm giving you all one last chance. You can leave now if you can't do this and I promise that no consequences will come to you, nor will I think any less of you."

Myka moved to stand beside Jane and then responded bluntly, "I'm in."

Mrs. Frederic replied, "I concur with Agent Bering."

"It sounds like you have a soft spot for us, Mrs. F.," Claudia said.

"I don't know what you're talking about," the elder answered. "Agent Lattimer has done much for this world and his vibes, as he calls them, have come in very handy in snagging, bagging, and tagging artifacts. It would be a shame to waste such a handy resource."

Artie responded, "Right, whatever the case may be. I received a text from James letting us know where and when to make the so called exchange of artifacts. We've got a plan to come within a very limited amount of time. If anyone has a good one, I'm all ears."

Claudia quickly replied mockingly, "Your ears are a little huge, but I still think Dumbo's are just a little bit…"

"Zip it, little girl," Artie snapped as he cut her off. "I suggest that unless you have a plan, do not speak for the next five minutes."

"Relax, Artemis," Claudia answered. "I've got a plan and it's a good one. Even if it isn't, it may be all we've got."


	14. Chapter 14

Vengeance Will Be Mine

Chapter Fourteen

Forty-five minutes passed by since each of the warehouse agents, as well as Jane, all left Leena's, leaving the intuitive and Dr. Calder behind to take care of Pete. Twenty-five of those minutes were spent outside of Univille at an old, torn down and abandoned construction site waiting for MacPherson, who was now late for what they believed was their final showdown, to show up.

"All right, what gives?" Claudia finally spoke up after waiting impatiently in nervous silence. "Are you sure you got the place and time right, Artie? I mean, maybe I'm wrong, but I never really thought of James MacPherson being the non-punctual type, although, he did have a knack for showing up at inopportune times."

"Of course I got the right time and place," Artie grumbled. "I double checked. He's just trying to make us more nervous by making us wait, knowing we'll become more desperate to save Pete. He thinks it'll make us more willing to just hand over the artifacts without much of a fight."

Steve spoke as he replied, "He's pretty good with a gun, except that it was actually Pete, who was firing, and he's got about as much knowledge of artifacts as Artie, so do you really think that that's why he's late; because he's not up for much of a fight?"

Claudia shrugged and then answered, "Maybe, but what if he's stalling for time in order to perfect whatever plan he and Renee have come up with? They are just two people coming up against the five of us, all with warehouse agent, or Regent, status after all."

"Oh my God," Myka responded. "James specifically requested that the five of us all show up here."

"Yeah, so?" Artie stated. "He wanted to make sure that there were no surprises, like Claudia or Steve popping out from behind another tombstone again. And he wanted to meet Jane."

Myka cut in, "No, he didn't want to all of us to come out here to avoid any surprises or to collect just a few artifacts. Why would he do that if he could lure us out here so that he could take over an entire warehouse full of them? MacPherson isn't here because he's gone after the two of us that still have access to Warehouse 13, but don't have the leverage to fight him back."

When Myka suddenly began to run back to their SUV they had driven over in, what she had just said finally donned on Artie, as well as the others, who all began to follow after Myka, and the older agent shouted, "He's going after Vanessa and Leena in order to force them to walk him and Renee into the warehouse!"

"Yeah, and he's going to use my son against them as leverage," Jane replied as they all finally reached their vehicle and got in, then began to speed off. "Myka, I sure hope you know how to speed."

"I certainly can when the people I care about are in danger," Myka answered firmly as she stepped on the gas.

Meanwhile…

Shortly after the others left her bed and breakfast, Leena slowly walked up the stairs toward Pete's room carrying a try of cookies and tea for Dr. Calder, then set them down carefully on the dresser beside his bed without saying anything to the woman as she was working on checking over the intuitive agent's vitals once again, and marked down her results on his chart, which she brought with her from the hospital.

As she finished for the moment, Vanessa finally turned to the younger woman and said, "Thank you for the tea and the cookies, Leena."

Leena nodded as she asked, "So, aside from the obvious, how is he doing?"

"About as well as can be expected in this situation," the doctor responded. "Pete's vitals were already weak when I put him under and now, he's just getting worse the longer we keep this up. Being frozen may have helped us to extend the time he has left, but… I'm not sure how much longer I can really keep him under before the snow globe's effects can't be reversed successfully. I hope you believe in prayer because we'll need everyone to get back here with Rasputin's artifacts soon, or…"

"Oh, the artifacts are here all right, my dears, but I'm afraid it's not your friends, who have them in their possession at the moment, nor did they ever have them," MacPherson interrupted suddenly as he appeared in the doorway, causing the women to spin around in shock and fear, then both moved closer toward Pete in order to try to protect him against the villain before them.

Leena was the first to speak as she asked, "How… what are you doing here, James?"

Renee came up from behind the man as she replied for him, "While your friends are foolishly out there waiting for us to never arrive, we came here knowing that you would have no choice, but to lead us into the warehouse."

"Yes, I suspected Arthur and Agent Bering would have come up with some kind of plan to stop me," James continued. "However, Leena knows that I was always a step ahead back when I was alive, don't you, Leena?"

"Yeah, up until your own foolishness got you killed in the first place after you released H.G. Wells," Leena answered smugly. "Her double cross was something you should have seen coming, but you didn't and now you're going to lose again."

MacPherson grabbed Leena roughly by her wrists and pulled her up off the bed as he angrily responded, "Not this time. Dr. Calder, if you please follow after us. As my partner stated before, we're taking a little trip to the warehouse and the two of you are going to help me to override the security so that I can get in and lock the others out. Agent Lattimer here can just remain as he is; where he'll die in my place."

Vanessa swiftly grabbed the blanket Claudia and Steve had brought to her from the warehouse, unbeknownst to James and Renee that it was an artifact with healing, or warming, capabilities, and roughly draped it over Pete just before she was also pulled up by Renee, who pulled out a gun and aimed it at the two women in order to get them both to move toward the door so they could all leave for the warehouse. Leena tried to resist as she cried out in fear for Pete's life while James pulled her along with him, not seeing what the doctor had done.

Thirty minutes later, Myka, Jane, Artie, Claudia, and Steve all arrived back at Leena's place as Myka shouted out for both Leena and Vanessa, but when neither of them answered, Myka and Jane both ran up the stairs as fast as they could in order to check on Pete, knowing that MacPherson had been here and had at least taken the women. As they ran into his room, they found him struggling to get up from his bed, having recently woken up cold, confused, and alone.

"Take it easy, Peter," Jane whispered to him as she pulled his frozen body into her arms in order to warm him up as much as she could and to try to get him to stop moving, in hope that she would be able to help to reserve what little strength he had left, then she looked up between both Artie and Myka with fear and anger written all over her face.

"Vanessa must have managed to drape Florence Nightingale's blanket over him before she and Leena were taken," Artie spoke up softly. "She knew that it's even more dangerous to leave him frozen while unsupervised. We need to get to the warehouse and do whatever we have to do to end this now before James can lock us out permanently and before it's too late to save Pete. He won't be able to hold on much longer."

Myka knelt down in front of Pete and Jane and as she took her partner's hand in hers, she said, "You need to keep fighting, Pete. We're going to stop MacPherson, but… you can't give up. Please hold on and when this is all over, I promise to go with you to that new restaurant in New York you've been nagging at me to go with you to for weeks now. Jane, will you be all right here alone with him?"

The woman looked back at Myka stoically as she more carefully wrapped Nightingale's blanket around him to try to keep him warmer and replied, "Go. I'll keep my son alive until you finish this."

"I think you're going to need a quicker way of getting into the warehouse than just driving," Mrs. Frederic responded as she suddenly entered the room carrying what looked to everyone like a long wooden plank. "It's a good thing I thought to take this out earlier."

"What is that thing?" Steve asked.

Artie answered, "It's the threshold of Limentinus. You set it at the base of any wall, it'll create an entrance leading directly into the warehouse. Thank you, Mrs. Frederic. Are we ready?"

At the warehouse…

As the villains dragged Leena and Vanessa into the building's office and while Renee held a gun on the two of them as they sat on the floor in one of the room's corners, MacPherson sat down at the computers and began typing away on the keys in order to start locking it down to stop the agents from getting in.

While he worked, Leena finally spoke up as she asked, "What exactly do you plan on doing here, now that you've changed the security to keep the others out? Do you really think that they won't find another way in? Artie has been here a little longer than you, seeing as you were dead for two years and then on the run before that. He knows this warehouse like the back of his hand."

"As do I, my dear," James replied. "And if they do manage to make their way in, which I believe they will, at least I'll have the chance to wreak a little havoc first and get exactly what I need."

"You obviously have no remorse over what you've done to Pete, do you?" Vanessa asked. "No remorse knowing that by you staying alive will cost him his life?"

Leena looked over at the doctor sadly, then back up at James, who smiled and answered, "I gave Agent Lattimer a chance to join me a long time ago. If he was smart, he would have agreed, but instead he was a fool and chose to mock me. He was also partially involved in my initial death, so no, I do not have any remorse for the fact that he will very shortly die so that I can have my life back."

The intuitive glared at the villain as she responded, "You bas…"

"Come now, Leena," MacPherson interrupted as he leaned down and gently took her chin in his hand. "That kind of language is unbecoming, especially for one such as you."

"Should I tie them up, James, or can I just knock them out cold so we can go down to look at the artifacts?" Renee finally spoke up.

James released his hold on Leena and replied, "I'm afraid we don't have enough time for me to give you a tour, Renee. I'll need you to stay up here and keep an eye on these two. Don't worry, I promise to get us everything we've talked about and more."

Renee looked disappointed and then finally nodded as she answered, "Fine. Just don't forget the analog password cracker."

"I won't," MacPherson responded and then left the room to head into the warehouse.

Ten minutes later, Artie, Myka, Claudia, and Steve suddenly walked through the wall behind the woman still holding her gun on their friends, then Myka cleared her throat to get her attention, and swiftly threw a punch at her in order to knock her unconscious. Artie made his way over to help Vanessa and Leena up off the floor, while Steve reached down and picked up Renee's gun.

"Where's MacPherson?" Myka asked quickly.

Vanessa replied, "He's down in the warehouse doing God knows what."

Leena continued, "One of the artifacts they wanted was the analog password cracker. They didn't mention anything else they were after. How did you get in here and through that wall?"

"The threshold of Limentinus," Claudia answered. "Does it really matter how we got here? We did, now let's get after MacPsycho. Did we already forget about Pete?"

"Of course not," Myka responded as she rushed out onto the balcony overlooking the vast aisles full of artifacts below and began to search for MacPherson. "I don't see him, Artie? Does this thing show everything?"

Artie looked through it himself as he replied, "Most of this room, but I'll bet you he isn't down where this thing will reach. He's either down in the gooery, or the in the dark vault. He can't be up to any good."

Myka nodded and then asked, "Then, what's the fastest way to get down there?"

"The fastest way is the zip line," Claudia answered. "You two go and Steve and I will be right behind you."

"Does MacPherson have the skull and prayer rope on him, Leena?" Myka asked as Artie got himself hooked up.

Leena nodded and responded, "He's carrying them in the bag he's got with him. He'll be keep them real close as long as his life is still linked to them and to Pete."

Once Artie finished and Myka climbed up onto his back, Artie then pushed forward as they swung across the rope over the aisles and he shouted out, "We'll find him, Myka!"

"If he's in here, what exactly do you think he's after, Artie?" Myka asked after they landed roughly back on the ground near the entrance to the dark vault. "How does he expect to keep any of these things contained?"

"I won't be needing containments for the artifacts I'm searching for," James called out from behind them when they walked into the room as he suddenly sprayed a can of what was the same sticky string that had once nearly caused a meltdown throughout the entire warehouse, causing both Myka and Artie to become tangled up in the mess. "Sorry, Arthur, but surely you didn't think catching me would be that easy, did you?"

Artie grumbled, "No, not really, but I was hoping. What artifact in here are you after?"

James held up the small box in his hand to show them and Myka recognized it right away to be the very first artifacts she and Pete had hunted down, then she said in confusion, "Lucrezia Borgia's jewelry box and comb? You can't use that thing yourself. It only works for certain people."

"Yes, I know, but Renee can and she will," James replied as he placed the artifact into his bag around his shoulders. "She fits the criteria for this particular artifact and with it, she'll be able to cause chaos and panic around wherever she chooses to be, which will make quite the mess for you all to worry about while I disappear for good. Some artifacts I can use for myself, while others I will use to continue my work from before; releasing the artifacts back out into the world where they belong. Goodbye, Arthur; Agent Bering."

"James!" Artie tried to call out as the villain left the vault, leaving both him and Myka behind as they struggled to get freed from the sticky string. "James!"

Myka spoke up again saying, "He's gone, Artie? We need to get out of… the snow globe! Didn't we bring it with us? It's how Pete used it to get me and Claudia freed before…"

Claudia and Steve finally ran into the room as Claudia rummaged through her tool bag she carried when she did inventory and interrupted, "Don't you worry, I've got it right here. Just hang on. Jinxie, don't touch the sticky string, whatever you do. Believe me, it's not fun to mess with."

"Thanks Claud," Myka said once she and Artie were finally released from the artifact's hold after the youngest agent froze the string like they had seen done before. "Now where do we start searching for that psycho?"

"I think I know what he's going after next," Artie answered as he quickly walked out of the vault, followed by the others. "He's going after the phoenix. If he gets his hands on it…"

Myka responded for him, "Then, he'll be able to come back to life if we manage to kill him, Pete will die for sure, and he'll also end up killing another one of us. Let's go guys!"

When James finally reached the aisle where he knew the phoenix was stored, thanks to searching the databases in Artie's computers, he made his way over to the artifact and was about to pick it up until a bolt of electricity from a tesla gun was suddenly fired at him, but he saw it just in time to dodge out of the way. Unfortunately, it was just before he could grab the small box the phoenix was kept in off the shelf.

As MacPherson slowly got up off the floor, Myka lowered the tesla gun, then raised up her glock, and aimed it directly at the villain before her, just as Artie, Claudia, and Steve caught up to them. Steve followed suit as he also pulled out his own gun and turned it on James as well, as he moved forward to stand beside Myka.

James looked at them smugly as he spoke again asking, "Do you really think you can shoot me in cold blood, Agent Bering? You are no murderer, but you will certainly become one if you kill me like you want to so badly. What would your partner think of you then? You don't really think he'd be able to ever fully trust you again, do you?"

"You shut up about Pete," Myka answered coldly. "I won't let you take his life from him, MacPherson."

"Then, kill me and you'll only end up becoming like me," James replied. "As will the rest of you."

It was then that a shot was suddenly fired, causing everyone to jump, but the shot didn't come from either Myka's or Steve's guns and just after the shot rang through the air, MacPherson looked down at his chest and saw blood pouring out from a wound that was only beginning to burn. The pain didn't last long and everyone stared as James collapsed to his knees and then fell the rest of the way to the ground, but before he took his last breath, he rolled over onto his back and looked for the source of the shot. Just before his eyes closed for good, he saw Renee staring down at him as tears poured down her face and anger spread across her face.

Leena walked up from behind her and took the gun from her hands, as Myka stared at her in surprise and asked, "How… why did you do that?"

Renee finally looked away from James' body as she turned to Myka and responded, "I heard everything he said to you a few minutes ago over the coms you set up before leaving the office after I came to. He was going to use one of your precious artifacts on me in order to give him time to disappear. I didn't want to believe he didn't care for me like I did him, like Carol did, but you all were right."

"So you broke away from Leena and Dr. Calder's custody and took back your gun so that you could come down here and kill him?" Artie asked as he looked between her, Leena, and then Vanessa, who also walked up behind her.

"Something like that," Renee replied as Steve finally moved to take the gun from the woman's hands. "I'm already a killer, you're not. I figured this was the least I could do for you for setting me straight and saving me from becoming a slave to one of these things."

Myka suddenly rushed forward and picked up the villain's bag to check on Rasputin's skull and prayer rope, both of which were there and intact, then she spoke up as she turned to Artie and spoke up firmly, "Take care of these as soon as possible. I'm going to check on Pete."

As she quickly ran out, Artie turned back to the others as he said, "We did it. I think everything's going to be all right again. MacPherson's gone for good this time and Pete's going to be all right."

"I hope you're right, or Myka's going to quit for good this time and we'll never be able to get her back," Claudia answered despondently.

"I wouldn't blame her," Leena responded sadly after reading Myka's aura before she walked away. "She's heartbroken. She loves Pete very deeply."

Once everything was over, the agents took care of James' body and Renee was escorted to prison by Mrs. Frederic and her bodyguards for the crimes she had committed, except for the shooting of MacPherson. The older woman had used an artifact on her in order to wipe out her memories of the events that had taken place in the warehouse that night in order of preserving the location of the building and the few secrets that would keep her from trying to give them away.

And it turns out that Artie was right about Pete being fine after their final confrontation with MacPherson, but only physically, as Pete hadn't spoken a word as he slowly recovered in his room at Leena's bed and breakfast, nor was he interested in seeing anyone in the days since he finally awoke again. It wasn't like Pete at all to keep to himself and to be so silent, but everyone knew that being used as the instrument to raise a monster like James MacPherson from the dead and to be forced into the back of his mind as the villain took over his body to cause so much damage as he had done was a devastating burden for anyone to bear. Jane stayed with him more than everyone else as she sat in the chair beside his bed in silence, refusing to leave her son's side as he suffered through the guilt that was plaguing him. Myka and the others relieved the Regent only when she gave in to get some rest.

Four nights later, Myka was sitting up with him as he slept and was struggling to stay awake herself when she felt a hand rest on top of hers, only to wake to find Pete sitting up on his bed and smiling down at her as he took her hand in hers. When Myka finally snapped out of the surprise of seeing him awake, she suddenly jumped up from the chair and wrapped her arms around him as she embraced him in a hug, as tears poured down from her eyes.

Myka cried, "Oh my God, Pete! It's so good to see you smile again like you used to. Are you all right? I mean, are you, you?"

Pete laughed softly as he answered, "Yeah, I'm me again. I'm so sorry it took me this long to snap out of… well whatever it was I was going through. I didn't mean to scare you or anybody. I just felt like I couldn't breathe. I was really scared, but I'm back now."

"I need to go and let everyone know," Myka replied as she went to stand up until Pete quickly pulled her back down again.

"Before everyone comes in here to baby me, especially my mom, I want to thank you for what you said earlier and of course for saving my life," Pete responded genuinely as she looked at her with a deep emotion she hardly ever saw in him, as he was always such the goofball she had come to love.

Myka tried to think back to what he possibly meant and then asked, "What I said earlier? Back when?"

Pete smiled and then replied, "Back when you were trying to keep me aware that you were here beside me and fighting for me when I was beginning to lose myself, when you said that I was your favorite superhero. That was a little cheesy you know, right?"

"Yeah, I know, but… wait, you heard all of that?" Myka asked as she began to feel embarrassed. "I mean, I realize you were aware I was there when you said my name, but you really heard everything that I said?"

"Not all of it, but I heard that," Pete answered as he laughed again. "The rest is a little hazy."

Myka smiled as she responded, "You know I only said that in hope to put a little more fight in you. I didn't really mean it."

Pete nodded as he replied, "Yes, I do know and Mykes, ditto. Now, help me downstairs so that the others can have their turn to fuss over me. I really hope Artie made cookies. I'm starving."

The End


End file.
